Tarina Tarantino Haul & Swatches!

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Tarina Tarantino is leaving Sephora as rumor has it the line ends it's contract with Sephora at the end of this year, so all her makeup is 40% OFF! She will be selling her makeup on her website www.tarinatarantino.com, so have no fear, as her line is not being discontinued, it just will not be available at Sephora.

I really wanted her Dollskin Blush Cheek Palette ($27 sale price), it's sold out on the Sephora website so I was super happy I found one at my local Sephora store. It has four blushes: Feather, Parasol, Candy Cameo, and Carved Rose, comes with a mirror as well in the palette.

I then decided to give her conditioning lip sheen lipsticks a try ($15 sale price) and loved them so ended up getting more colors: Candy Jar, Floriculture, Watermelon Wow, Penny Arcade and Fuchsia Lining. I like that these are moisturizing and have the right amount of color, not too sheer and not too pigmented for a more softer, natural look. The texture of these are similar to the MAC Slimshines, just not as soft as the slimshines (where they are almost melting!). These are pretty solid.

Candy Jar- A light bubblegum pink (think a softer version of MAC's Snob).

Floriculture- A beautiful dark plummy shade with red undertones. This is my favorite because it's perfect for fall, and it's wearable. Usually for me, a lot of dark purple/raspberry colors can look too much for daytime, but since this is a sheen, it's perfect! It was hard for me to capture the true color of this shade because it's super pretty in person, so the swatch below does it no justice. Temptalia's swatch of this is spot on.

Watermelon Wow- This is a nice soft dusty rose color, it complements light skintones.

Penny Arcade- A nice soft peachy color, the swatch makes it look darker, but it's a tinge lighter than shown.

Fuchsia Lining- A beautiful soft magenta pink.

I am in love with Urban Decay eyeliners, and heard that these were better, so I figured I'd try her Eye Dream Hyperliners too since they were only $9, I bought Ultraviolet and Puppeteer which remind me of UD's "Rockstar" and "Bourbon", although Ultraviolet is much more purple than Rockstar. In regards to wear, I have not worn these yet so I will update you gals with the longevity of these.

Her Eye Dream Hyperlight ($14 sale price) is one of her best sellers so I wanted to see what the hype was about and when I swatched it in the store I was impressed because it has a nice light pink salmon color and blends easily with the skin. This is used for under the eye or anywhere you want a little highlight. I am excited to try this because I have dark circles and I think this would be perfect at giving me a more bright-eyed, awake look.

Even though I bought the blush palette, I wanted the full-sized blush in "Parasol" because it's such a pretty pink and coral color with a nice shimmer. I decided to also get "Neopolitan Lane" but I think this is too light for my skin because it hardly shows up on my face/skin and just disappears, so this one might be going back.

Lastly, I fell in love with the purples in the Jewel Eyeshadow Palette in "Fantastical" so added that to my basket too haha.

Favorite Picks: 

Blush: Parasol

Lips: Floriculture and Watermelon Wow

Enjoy the pics below! Click to enlarge to show detail.

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Sephora Airbrush Brushes #57 and #55

***I will be doing a tutorial and video series soon!!! Covering the following: How to mix liquid and cream foundations and how to apply concealer and foundation using these Sephora brushes.

I bought a couple of Sephora brushes a few weeks ago from their Professional Platinum Airbrush Series: The #57 Airbrush Concealer Brush ($24), and the Airbrush Foundation Brush in #55 (#34). These brushes are designed to work flawlessly with creams and liquids to give an impeccable airbrush looking finish, as the bristles are of synthetic Taklon. I like that you can also build up your desired coverage.  I have been using these brushes in my recent looks, so to get an idea of how they perform you can just take a look at my most recent FOTD's. :)

I love that the concealer brush isn't flat like many concealer brushes out there, it's a round fluff brush that really covers a lot of area and gives a nice airbrush look and finish when used with liquid concealers or even to blend and smooth out cream concealers.  
***[Tip]***- The trick is to swipe a tiny bit of your liquid or cream concealer under your eye once to cover the area, then DAB and PAT the foundation gently into your skin to avoid streaks and to give the airbrush look, then finish off by applying a translucent finishing/setting powder to ensure long lasting wear and prevent any creasing in fine lines and truly give that matte look.

The foundation brush is a wide headed fluffy brush, it's great for covering large areas such as the neck, cheeks, and forehead. There is also a smaller foundation brush (#56) also at Sephora that can cover smaller areas if desired. I apply my liquid foundation by putting one pump onto my makeup palette (flat metal pan I have by Graftobian) to allow me to mix (if necessary) and to easily apply it on my brush; then using circular motions, I apply all over my face, then dab and pat into my skin all over to get rid of any streaks. I then apply a finishing/setting powder to set my look and get rid of any shine.

I took a pic of the concealer brush head next to my camera's SD card to show you a size comparison side by side so you can get an idea of how big it actually is.

Price? These brushes are pricey but trust me, I think they are well worth it because the results are amazing. Honestly, if you are on a budget and I had to pick one, I would pick the concealer brush over the foundation brush because the concealer brush is unique and there's not a lot of concealer brushes out there that are quite like it. Many concealer brushes are flat and don't really allow you to blend your concealer to give you a flawless look. The foundation brush gives a nice airbrush look, but I think it can easily be replicated using other brushes or techniques, even my beauty blender sponge gives me a nice finish. Sephora also has tons of sales and discounts so it's best to buy these then. :)

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Clinique Lash Primer & Shiseido Lift. Mascara

Finally getting around to reviewing the Clinique Lash Primer ($13, Sephora) and the Shiseido Lifting Mascara ($23, Sephora) I got when Sephora had their F&F sale.  Sorry for any lag, it's been a hectic week! Anyway, I really love both products, so I am pretty happy with my purchase, in case you are wondering about the Shiseido Mascara Base (primer), CLICK HERE as I did a review on it awhile ago.

 

Product: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

Quality: 5/5

Overall: 4/5

Price: $13

What it does:

This lash-conditioning undercoat contains a unique polymer combination that holds mascara to lashes for a longer, fuller look with extended wear. The moisturizing formula also helps to condition and mend dry lashes.

PROS:

- It's actually a pretty good primer, helps prepare my lashes before I apply mascara by separating and lengthening my lashes.

- It's only $13, which is pretty affordable considering there are many other name brands that cost a lot more.

- No weird, funky smell

- Definitely not drying, doesn't flake or cause my mascara to flake.

- Tube is skinny so it's easy to hold in the hands

CONS:

- The brush is a tad bit too wide, it's not horrible, but I wish it was just a little bit skinnier so that it's easier to apply to the hard to reach lashes (like the inner lashes).

Overall: I really liked this primer, it didn't dry out my lashes and my mascara held onto this primer really well for all-day wear. I also liked that it was $13, which like I said is a lot more affordable than some of the other mascara primers I have tried in the past, AND it's worth it! I would definitely re-purchase.

Product: 4/5

Packaging: 5/5

Quality: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Shade: Black

Price: $23

What they say:

Lashes lift to new heights! Provides lash-by-lash definition, maximum curl, and volume with a feather-light finish. Air Volume Powder delivers strong, long, and feather-light curls. Waterproof, oil-proof, and sweat-proof. Can be easily applied in layers.

PROS: 
- The wand is nice and thin for easier application, which allows me to get into the hard to reach places and really create more of a lift and curl effect.
- With a mascara primer, it gave a really nice lift and a slight curl that lasted all day, even without the use of an eyelash curler.
- Didn't flake at all or rub off
- Seemed like it added a little more volume and thickness to my lashes.

CONS:
- I hate the smell, it smells like deodorant which is just weird for a mascara to have that kind of scent LOL
- By itself (no primer), it doesn't seem to have that much of a lifting effect and I notice it can get sorta clumpy without a primer, even with just a couple of layers.
- $23 seems pricey for a mascara period. Especially since it's recommended to replace it every 3 months, but since I had a Sephora gift card I thought id give it a shot.
- Lashes feel stiff and sorta brittle with this mascara if you do not use a primer, with a primer it's fine.

Overall: This mascara was nice, I liked it along with my Clinique Lash Primer, however as a stand alone mascara I don't like it too much because it made my lashes feel really brittle and somewhat stiff. I personally didn't notice an amazing lift or a slight curl of my lashes with just the mascara by itself, however with a primer it looked really nice! I didn't like the deodorant smell of the mascara, thought that was a little weird because I kept associating it with something I need to be putting under my arms haha. The price I thought was steep, but normal for Sephora, and it's Shiseido and mostly all name brand mascaras are in this price range which was fine, overall I would buy it again.

*Did not use an eyelash curler for any of the pics below for the sake of an accurate review

 

 

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Sephora Haul

I love getting packages, I swear it's like a mini Christmas for me except I know what's in the box, LOL. The fiance thinks whenever there's a package it's a gift from me to him, yeah right buddy! Haha. This is gonna be a short post just because it's already minight and I gotta get some sleep, but I bought a few things when Sephora had their Friends & Family sale and can't wait to do a review on them! Don't worry I will elaborate on each item soon, I just want a chance to test them out a bit so I can do a review, so there will be more pics and info to come! Hope you ladies are having a happy hump day!

- Clinique Lash Builder

- Shiseido Lasting Lifting Mascara

- Sephora Makeup Brush Shampoo

- Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel

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Fafi Invite & New Makeup Arsenal

I got my Fafi invite to the pre-launch party this Sunday! The booklet looks so pretty, and they are stickers!

**EDIT*** I had some lovely ladies ask me about the Fafi iridescent powders, or just iridescent powders in general, they can be used in various ways, to highlight the cheeks or face, give a bronzey look, pretty much anything!









Sadly I had to get another traincase to store my massive collection of crap, *ahem* I mean makeup. I was out-growing the clear plastic drawers, my vanity drawers, my old traincase....things were just spewing out so I needed a new arsenal to organize some of my things, what's sad is that I also bought the midnight traincase (both from Sephora). I bought it online so I have not received that one yet. I got it for traveling (yes even the overnight bag was TOO SMALL for my things, even just for traveling!). And each case was close to $100 EACH, aye aye aye, gotta control my spending habits but seriously, it's a BAD addiction! LOL. It's like for that price I could have bought the MAC traincase!

Did you know that the MAC traincase has thermal protection? Meaning if you leave your makeup in your car on a hot summer California day in that case, it's protected? Yup. :)

I haven't even stored everything yet!





All the traincases.....


Now it's time to organize! See how much stuff I have just laying around!?












Of course gotta organize some of the NYX eyeshadows...


New Bracelets and Rings from Forever 21 (I love bracelets and rings!):

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